Recent public events have brought to light the safety of students in classrooms, workers in office buildings, worshipers in a church facility, and the like. Schools are presently investigating and implementing techniques for deterring intruders from entering a school and from being able to enter a classroom. Time is the key factor in the development of strategies for dealing with an intruder. While barricade systems are very useful in preventing or deterring intruders from entering schools or classrooms, it is first necessary that the staff be notified that an intruder is present in the building. Not all schools, offices, churches, or other facilities that would benefit from this technology have ready means for communicating this type of information to a front office or to a central system. When intruders enter a facility, it is very important that the facility go into “lock down” mode as soon as possible in order to avoid harm to the occupants of the facility.
Responders can often take 10 or more minutes to respond in an emergency situation. During this time, schools go into “lock down” mode. This initial 8-10 minutes, when police have not yet arrived, can be critical and has spawned an outpouring of ideas on how to effectively barricade classroom doors in order to allow time for police response and to protect the occupants of the classroom. One type of barricade device presently on the market serves as a door barricade that slides under a door to deter or prevent a door from being opened inwardly or outwardly when installed. Another type of device is utilized with doors that have auto-closing mechanisms, where the device slides over the auto-closing mechanism in order to deter opening of the mechanism and, thus, opening of the door. Another type of device engages the doorknob of the door in order to deter opening of the door. Other devices are also known. All of these devices require that someone notify the front office, or other relevant authorities, in the event of an intrusion. If the relevant authorities can be notified more quickly, response time can be reduced.